Marc Davis A New Beat picks up twelve years after the original. This time the movie finds itself centered around a talented but overly ambitious young female freshman, Dani (Alexandria Shipp), new to Atlanta A&T's marching band and drum section instead of the hotheaded but equally talented male lead Nick Cannon played in the original. Let me start off by saying I really liked the first Drumline, and I didn't expect a sequel that actually lived up to the first one, especially given its "made for TV" status. However, since I was in the marching band myself while in college and high school, as you can imagine, I absolutely love movies centered around marching bands. This genre is so small, I'm willing to give every single film a chance, but while A New Beat was certainly entertaining, it just wasn't memorable. The biggest thing that holds A New Beat back is while various aspects of the main characters' lives were different enough that we didn't get exactly the same movie, most of the main plot elements were just a rehash of the first film. I just felt like I was watching a remake created solely for the purpose of showing what this movie would look like if shot in the social media/smartphone era. Let's talk about some other aspects of the film… Alexandria Shipp does a decent job as the lead. Leonard Roberts reprises his role as Sean Taylor. This time he's back as the head band director. Not too bad considering how perfect Orlando Jones was as the band director in the first film. Nick Cannon also reprises his role for a much less significant part. Truthfully, his part could have been written out and it wouldn't have had any impact on the film whatsoever. The rest of the cast? Clearly one of the most beautiful set of co-starts they could find; however, the acting itself left much to be desired. It all just seemed so forced and stale – and the goes for the movie overall. The scenes and camera-work for the band performances were underwhelming and the dialogue, script, and plot were indicative of a "made for TV" movie. I'm actually a little surprised at how mediocre the band performance scenes came out considering the director, Bille Woodruff, specializes in R&B/hip-hop music videos. In addition, the tension and drama Woodruff and the writers tried to create just didn't resonate with me - very over the top and unconvincing. The biggest thing lacking though from this movie was the band itself - not nearly enough performances. They placed too much emphasis on the backstory. I mean, don't get me wrong, I wish more filmmakers would spend additional time on character development; however, the band aspects of this film just felt much less significant this time around. Not to mention, when you have this much backstory and the characters still seem one dimensional, then someone has failed. All that said, I still enjoyed watching A New Beat. It didn't have the charm and originality of the first film, being more of a remake with a female lead rather than a sequel. But seeing this remade from the perspective of the social media/smartphone era was interesting. As you might already have guessed, text messaging is used heavily in the film and the communications of our characters are nicely plastered across the screen for viewers to see. We also get to see spectators in the stands filming band performances on their smartphones; the main characters can check out their roommates on Facebook prior to meeting for the first time on campus; and the fight that breaks out after the first drumline challenge ends up on YouTube and probably WorldStar HipHop. (Rolls eyes…) A lot has changed in the real world since the first movie just 12 years prior to the sequel. Unfortunately, not enough of the movie plot itself has changed to make this truly a "new beat". It gets a "generous" 5 stars simply because I love this genre – oh, and did I mention how attractive the cast members are?

rferree9 To say Drumline: A New Beat was predictable is, well, predictable. The female lead goes from an ultra successful, intelligent, self assured but pampered high school senior inundated with full academic scholarships from top universities to lack-luster, insecure college freshman whose only goal, only passion is to play in a marching band at so-so college as a P1 drummer in the center of the front line. And throughout the movie there is little if any, mention of anything to do with actual day to day requirements and the reason for attending college....(classes, grades, studying and earning a degree) just high school like drama of being in the marching band. The college, A&T, while never mention in the film as such, appears to be an HBCU (Historically Black College and Universities) as the only white -or Asian, Hispanic- people are seen in the background and only briefly. Additionally, the fictional A&T marching band is reminiscent of Florida A&M University's marching band that was disbanded and several members were prosecuted for the death of Robert Champion, one of it's members as a direct result of hazing. I won't go into how many stereo-types were displayed throughout the movie (gold chains, black males calling black women "bi!ch", chocolate used to describe black skinned men being black). Finally, when all is said and done, this is still just a movie about high school "band geeks" that are now college "band geeks". A movie where they try to equate the demands, rigors and competition of playing in a college marching band to those of playing a college level sport be it football, wrestling, basketball or swimming. In this regard, they failed.

Steve Pulaski The original Drumline was a surprising little gem, given its existence was mainly to propel Nick Cannon's career forward. The film was a touching film that showcased exceptional marching band choreography alongside a main character whose actions and faults were because of the choices he made rather than justified by the things he lacked, such as a father figure and a stable homelife. Given its pretty thin plot and foreseeable turnout, the film made arriving to that end conclusion fun, all thanks to writing that went above and beyond.On the other hand, Drumline: A New Beat shows exactly the kind of film the original Drumline could've been if it was written without the themes and wit that made it a film to resonate and embrace. Caught up in a series of vague internet articles about the potential its creation and release - and whether or not its original star Nick Cannon would even be a part of it - before finally arriving twelve years after its predecessor, the film is a perfunctory mess of proportions that are unfortunately expected given its relatively low-key release on basic cable, with that specific channel being VH1 nonetheless.The film revolves around Dani Bolton (Alexandria Shipp), an well-off girl from Brooklyn, who goes against her parents by attending Atlanta A&T University and playing in the school's renowned marching band over going to medical school. As a result, she's cut off in terms of finances and has to resort to getting a job, which is a big deal in the first half of the film but a nonexistent issue in the second half. Moreover, Dani's participation in the A&T drumline warrants her becoming one of the few female members of the drumline and the first female section leader, much to the dismay of the upperclassmen drummers; even her cousin Tyree (Jeff Pierre) finds his little cousin a threat and a potential distraction to the band.This causes trouble for marching band coach Sean Taylor (Leonard Roberts), who struggles to maintain any kind of control of his marching bad amidst conflicts of interest between the marching band members. At one point, when the team turns violent against a competing team, he brings in Devon Miles (Nick Cannon), the now rich and famous percussionist whose roots began at A&T, for a pep-talk in the film's most entertaining scene.The word for Drumline: A New Beat is incredibly perfunctory, as it feels like it is simply cycling through necessary emotions and plot points in order to move from point A to B in the simplest manner. Not to mention, the film has an usually brisk pace to its narrative. At the fifteen minute mark in the film, we are already watching Dani run into her first conflicts within the drumline at college, after watching her graduate, fight with her parents, arrive at college, meet her roommate and her friends, and get acquainted with the drumline in the previous minutes. The film moves unusually quickly, and tries to tackle far too many bases on emotional, conflicting, and relationship levels, including a terribly corny relationship between Dani and Jayven (Jordan Calloway), a fellow drummer.Even the choreography in the film is decidedly-lesser than the original film, maintaining a level of interchangeability when the first film not only remained entertaining in the structure of its percussion numbers but its editing. Drumline: A New Beat's highest point in terms of musical performance and choreography is when the A&T marching band performs an infectious version of The Gap Band's "You Dropped a Bomb on Me," but even then, it's too late for the film to reach any level of buoyancy after the abundance of monotony we have seen.Drumline: A New Beat's coffin-sealing nail comes in the form of how desperate of an attempt this feels at garnering momentary views and generating some sort of social media buzz. Throughout the film's premiere on VH1, incessant adds pop up urging fans to visit VH1's website to further promote or endorse the film, "#Drumline" appears in the corner of the screen for the entire film, and even the characters in the film feel like simplistic millennial archetypes, taking selfies at random times and playing on their phones throughout the film, as if they are their parents trying to remain relevant. The film feels like nothing more than a shot fired from a flare gun, attempting to make some sort of noise, if momentary, just to try and catch your attention. You have a choice as a consumer and a viewer; you can either give it unnecessary, unwarranted attention, or give your undivided attention to one of the many winning films in your local multiplex this awards season. The decision, as always, is up to you.Starring: Alexandra Shipp, Leonard Roberts, Jordan Calloway, Jeff Pierre, Lisa Arrindell Anderson, and Mario Van Peebles. Directed by: Bille Woodruff.

linmusclan This movie has no basis in reality. I'm sorry but if you were a parent who child was smart enough to get into multiple schools and you had the income to support it, who in their right mind would send the child to an out-of-state school just to play the drums. You can say what you want but this movie is filled with choppy and corny black to black dialogue. It even has one female character being underhandedly racist to another for no absolute reason (if you go to a HBCU you would know how unlikely that is). Unlike Nick Cannon, the main character is not relatable to anyone at all. I don't know why Hollywood think people are going to pity a gorgeous person who seemingly has everything going for them but they have to work for something they want.